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1 Samuel 12 · a question people ask

Who was Bedan?

In the text

Samuel names four whom the LORD sent: "The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side" (12:11). Jerubbaal is Gideon: "Jerubbaal, who is Gideon" (Judges 7:1). Jephthah is the Gileadite of Judges 11-12: "Jephthah judged Israel six years" (Judges 12:7). The fourth name is Samuel. The book of Judges doesn't name anyone called Bedan, and 1 Samuel says nothing more about him.

The verses

“The LORD sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.”
1 Samuel 12:11 · World English Bible
“Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. Midian’s camp was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.”
Judges 7:1 · World English Bible
“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Jephthah.”
Judges 11:1 · World English Bible
“Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.”
Judges 12:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Samuel 12

1 Samuel 12: Whose ox have I taken?

In Hebrew the thunder the LORD sent at wheat harvest is the plural of qol, the word for voice. Samuel began by saying he had listened to the people's voice (12:1), set before them the LORD's voice (12:14-15), and then the thunder came, with rain (12:18).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions